Gerry McCracken

Mortgage broker, business valuator, historian, golfer, community volunteer, brother, friend

Our much-loved brother and friend, Gerry McCracken, has left us. Gerry suffered a heart attack on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. He was treated at the Cardiac Care units of the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Mazankowski Heart Institute in Edmonton. Gerry died of pneumonia, a result of the heart attack, at the Mazankowski on June 30, 2023.

He leaves his brother Ed McCracken (Judy), Anne Fitzpatrick (Andre, deceased), Joan McCracken (Dave Belyea), sister-in-law, Sandra Hobbs (Peter, deceased) and brother-in-law, Andy Bognar, (Susan, deceased). He also leaves his nieces and nephews, Elizabeth, Paul, Mike, Conor, Kate, Clint, Kayt, Maddy, Elena and Kristina, and their children.

Gerry grew up in an Irish Catholic family of six children in Notre Dame de Grace (NDG) in Montreal’s west end. An “eight-year man” at the Jesuit-run, Loyola of Montreal, Gerry attended both Loyola High School and Loyola College. Gerry is described in the '66 High School Yearbook as being "pals with everybody.” His friends remember him as being not only smart, but very funny, and blessed with the driest sense of humour. He brought a dose of reality to whatever issue was being argued about. Gerry valued his upbringing, the Catholic education he received at Loyola and the Loyola mission of striving to work in the service of humanity.

With a B.A. in Honours History (Loyola College, 1970, later, Concordia University) and a B.Comm (Concordia, 1972) in hand, Gerry set off for Ottawa in 1973 to the Industrial Development Bank (IDB). A reorganization soon after saw the birth of a new Crown corporation known as the Federal Business Development Bank (FBDB) and an aggressive venture capital program for small-medium businesses across Canada.

Gerry travelled to meet his clients and developed a rapport with his provincial counterparts, notably those of a sister provincial agency, the Alberta Opportunity Company (AOC), a newly established provincial business development corporation founded in 1972. In 1975, he joined AOC, and moved to Ponoka, the company's head office. The AOC provided financial and management assistance to qualified small- and medium-sized Alberta businesses which were unable to obtain reasonable terms and conditions from the private sector. Management assistance included counselling its customers in areas such as accounting, construction, finance, marketing and production. It was exciting to be part of this bold new enterprise during the tremendous economic expansion years occurring in Alberta during the oil and gas boom.

Perhaps Gerry’s most memorable years at AOC were as Director, Corporate Development, where he oversaw a major corporate workflow re-engineering and the implementation of an innovative Enterprise software information system. Gerry was an ``idea man`` -- solving problems and showing a workable way forward. In 1997, Gerry received an Executive MBA from the University of Alberta and certification in business valuation in 2005.

He created his own company, Dialectic Business Solutions (2002-2020) where, as a mortgage broker he worked with commercial developers, builders and lenders to provide analysis and deal structuring advice for real estate financing projects; as a Chartered Business Valuator, he specialized in valuation assignments for private business, and as exit planning advisor he gave advice on planning and business transition strategies.

Gerry was Board chair and VP, Finance of Incident Xpress Inc., an innovative new incident reporting software application for corporate security professionals in the small to mid-sized market, which was launched in 2021. Prior to that he was Director and then Chair of PPM 2000, a successful private software company until it was sold.

In addition to his interest in business and finance, Gerry was a history buff who read extensively. His favourite period was World War 1, particularly military history. He owned virtually every book available about Winston Churchill.

For Gerry, living in Ponoka was perhaps an embodiment of the George Burns quote “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family -- in another city.” Gerry loved life in Ponoka with its two exceptional golf courses -- Wolf Creek and the Ponoka Community Golf Course --and played whenever he could. He loved the prairies and its people and considered Alberta his home. The Ponoka Community Golf Course was a special place for golf friendships and a vibrant community life. Gerry always seemed to have a smile on his face and had an obvious love of golf. He was lots of fun to play with and many got to experience his joy in the game.

Gerry was active in the Ponoka community. He contributed for many years to the Ponoka Golf Club as Board member, President, Vice President, and Treasurer. He had a large role in its clubhouse expansion and in the upgrading of its by-laws. He considered the Ponoka Golf course to be one of the finest small town golf courses in Alberta, and possibly, Western Canada.

He was also an active board member providing a financial perspective to Ponoka Family and Community Support Services (FCSS), and the Ponoka Handi-van Society. Ponoka FCSS offers many valuable community-based programs, but Gerry was particularly partial to programs that support children and youth. Supporting kids’ sports such as hockey (winters are long here) and baseball was his passion.

Gerry’s family members moved to Edmonton -- Joan in 1983 and Peter in 1987, and there were many birthday celebrations and family dinners to drive into Edmonton for. The Edmonton family loved their annual camping trips, with Gerry in his old beast of a camper van loaded with gear. He always cooked breakfasts… orange juice, bacon, pancakes and coffee. He also maintained close relationships with the rest of his family in Toronto and Montreal, visiting the family cottage in Highgate Springs, on Missisquoi Bay in Vermont, usually in the fall.

Gerry was a favourite uncle of his nieces and nephews. He took Elena and Kristina Belyea to a movie every Christmas eve, while their parents frantically wrapped gifts. He took the girls to McDonalds… to their parents’ dismay… and let them use his car speaker phone.

Gerry understood small business and the people who owned them. He understood the challenge of building value and strove to help his clients position themselves for effective transactions and timely transitions. This and his diverse contributions to the community reflected his efforts to be a “man for others” in the very best of the Loyola tradition.

Donations in Gerry’s memory can be made to baseball and hockey programs in Ponoka through https://kidsportcanada.ca/alberta/ponoka/contact-us/ For baseball, go to: Courtney Kinley at [email protected] For hockey, go to: Patrick Lentz at [email protected]

Donations can also be made to Cardiac Care at the Royal Alexandra Hospital CK Hui Heart Centre - Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation or the Mazankowski Heart Institute at https://givetouhf.ca/mazankowski-alberta-heart